Page 38 of Monstrous Serpent

I snicker and wave to him on my way back to the bench.

On the ice Rua takes the puck into the offensive zone. But Henneman puts him on his ass again. Damn. Never seen the Titans’ defenseman play this aggressively before. The big guy must know his husband got a blowie from my teammate.

Two plays later, Jenkins is coming through the neutral zone with the puck. I step up and strip it clean, poking it to Shaw. Jenkins slashes my stick, and I spin on him. “Careful, Jenkins. That's a penalty.”

“Fuck your penalty.”

“What was that about my penis?” I step into his space, grinning widely. “Do you want my penis? Is that what you said? I mean, everyone wants it, so you may have to get in line. It’s a big line. You know, for a big dick.”

“I said penalty. And I want nothing to do with your ratchet dick.”

“Aw, you sure?” I tap his shin pad with my stick. “You could bump up to the front of the line. Get VIP access if you want. And it’s not ratchet. It’s pretty. Like your mouth.”

Oh, that did it.

He drops his stick and swings, nostrils flaring.

I laugh and swing right back. “Why so angry?”

“Shut up, you giant fucking dickhead.” He punches me again.

I hit right back. “Shh, or the refs will hear. You can get kicked out for that. Then how am I supposed to have any fun?”

Someone grabs my jersey and wrenches me backward. “Both of you knock it off!”

A ref is pulling Jenkins away from me. “It’s a new year. You two are already going at it.”

I turn and smile at the linesman behind me. “You know what you’re getting into when it comes to our games.”

The guy huffs. “I should get double pay for this.”

“You should.” I wink, skate back to the bench, then sit next to Hunter. “That was fun.”

He doesn’t respond.

Of course, Coach Reed sits me for a rotation, the fucker.

Whatever.

Hunter’s out on the ice without me. But our other defenseman is decent enough. I sigh, watching everyone having fun out there. Then Hunter carries the puck into their zone, heads to the net, and rips a wrist shot that beats Novotny.

I jump up, banging my stick on the boards. “Fuck, yeah!”

Hunter doesn’t celebrate, doesn’t even smile. He just starts making his way back to our bench, gliding right past Jenkins.

“Look at you. Acting like that wasn’t the luckiest bounce of your life.”

Hunter turns, getting so close that he towers over the smaller hockey player.

Knight shoves him from behind. “Move along.”

Shit.

Hunter grabs Knight's jersey with both hands, dips low, and drives through his hips. Knight's skates leave the ice, and he hits the surface hard. Whistles blare. Knight gets to his feet, then cracks his stick across the back of Hunter’s legs.

Bad move.

Hunter punches him in the side multiple times. Knight throws a few right back. The refs pull them apart, sending each to the penalty box.